LeapRate Exclusive… 2018 has been a great year for trading solutions provider Spotware FX and CFD trading platform cTrader – cTrader Open API 2.0 was released just a few days ago, Spotware replaced cMirror with cTrader Copy trading service, cTrader Copy, on the other hand, enhanced PAMM.
Panagiotis Charalampous, Head of Community Management of cTrader at Spotware, joins LeapRate today to speak about cTrader.
LR: Panagiotis, how do you see cTrader setting apart from the crowd?
Panagiotis: Despite our clients are brokers, the actual users of our trading platforms are traders. For that reason, our first priority was always to offer solutions that put the needs and interests of Traders First™. We have been following this approach since the foundation of our company and developed cTrader with it in mind. We believe this is what defines our success.
LR: How exactly cTrader reflects Traders First™ approach?
Panagiotis: A trading platform is in a way a tool that lies between the trader and the broker. So to a certain extent, the platform has the power to control this broker-trader relationship. And it can be either in favor of traders or not, which makes transparency a key to fairness. So, when building cTrader, our goal was to provide this transparency, ensure fair trading conditions and protect traders by prohibiting all types of manipulation.
And the best proof of it is the trust of millions of traders worldwide who choose to trade with cTrader.
Additionally, we constantly improve cTrader platform, add new features and develop it further based on the feedback we receive from our traders’ community, brokers and industry trends.
LR: Can you tell us how cTrader protects its traders?
Panagiotis: For instance, cTrader warns traders about the “Disposition Effect” through specific in-platform warnings when they set a Take Profit without a Stop Loss so to protect them from losing money above their limits.
Comparing to other platforms, cTrader doesn’t allow brokers to connect to non-reputable price sources, inject their own live prices or manipulate price feeds. It also doesn’t provide access to edit the trade database and restricts them from the use of plugins or automated scripts to run on their trading server.
We monitor our brokers closely and receive retail traders’ feedback directly. So, if we find that a broker has attempted to manipulate traders in any way, we will issue warnings, suspend or completely shut down cTrader from the accused broker to protect traders.
LR: Do brokers also implement Traders First™ approach and how do they benefit from it?
Panagiotis: Certainly. cTrader is offered by dozens of leading brokers who support our Traders First™ approach. By doing so, they position themselves as credible and reliable brokers who care about their traders. They are committed to their clients and willing to provide them with a trading platform that enhances their trading experience. This added value attracts traders and serves the long terms goals of brokers, overall benefiting all market participants.
The startup brokers also benefit from following Traders First™ approach as it offers them a market recognition and helps gain their share among traders with a premium trading platform.
LR: How does this philosophy affect the industry?
Panagiotis: Working for such a dynamic and fast paced industry as Forex, when things are changing every day, it is essential to be flexible and being able to adapt our products to the market accordingly and be ahead of these changes. That is why Spotware has been always striving for innovation and delivering the technology that is responsive to these demands.
What’s more, by following the Traders First™ approach, we are raising the standards of the entire online trading industry. This creates a competitive landscape that provides traders with more favorable conditions for trading, as well as eliminates from the market brokers with bad practices.
LR: There have been a lot of changes lately in the Retail FX broker space, driven both by regulation (like ESMA’s leverage cap) and increasing competition. What changes do you envision for the industry in the coming months?
Panagiotis: Indeed, there have been a lot of things going on in the industry last year including the new ESMA regulations, reorganization of processes due to GDPR, as well as the cryptocurrency frenzy of 2017 which kept the industry busy throughout 2018 in the effort to catch up with all these drastic shifts of focus. This required a lot of flexibility, meaning setting short term priorities and adjusting roadmaps. What I see in 2019 is a consolidation of activities, reprioritization of objectives by major players and a wide industry cleanup from non-performers. This will lead to a healthier organic growth of the industry and allow more sustainable long-term development plans.